Five Short Stories for Autumn: Wordsworth Collections, #13

By Diane Wordsworth

Five short stories with an autumn feel.

 

Five Short Stories for Autumn is a Wordsworth Collection of five themed short stories that have been previously published or broadcast. Full publishing history details below:

 

THE GIRL ON THE BENCH first published in Words Worth Reading Issue 1; also published in Twee Tales More and as a Wordsworth Short

THE MOST SCARIEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR first published in Words Worth Reading Issue 1; also published in Twee Tales More and as a Wordsworth Short

THE BONFIRE PARTY first published in Take a Break's Fiction Feast; also published in Twee Tales and Twee Tales More

THE SPIRIT OF THE WIND first published in My Weekly; also published in Twee Tales, Twee Tales More, Words Worth Reading Issue 1, and as a Wordsworth Short

POPPY DAY first published in My Weekly; also published in Twee Tales Twee, Twee Tales More, and Flash Fiction 2

• Language: English
• Publisher: Baggins Bottom Books
• Release date: Oct 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215673737

Diane Wordsworth

Diane Wordsworth was born and bred in Solihull in the West Midlands when it was still Warwickshire. She started to write for magazines in 1985 and became a full-time freelance photojournalist in 1996. In 1998 she became sub-editor for several education trade magazines and started to edit classroom resources, textbooks and non-fiction books. In 2004 Diane moved from the Midlands to South Yorkshire where she edited an in-house magazine for an international steel company for six years. She still edits and writes on a freelance basis.

Book preview

Contents

THE GIRL ON THE BENCH first published in Words Worth Reading Issue 1; also published in Twee Tales More and as a Wordsworth Short

THE MOST SCARIEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR first published in Words Worth Reading Issue 1; also published in Twee Tales More and as a Wordsworth Short

THE BONFIRE PARTY first published in Take a Break’s Fiction Feast; also published in Twee Tales and Twee Tales More

THE SPIRIT OF THE WIND first published in My Weekly; also published in Twee Tales, Twee Tales More, Words Worth Reading Issue 1, and as a Wordsworth Short

POPPY DAY first published in My Weekly; also published in Twee Tales Twee, Twee Tales More, and Flash Fiction 2

The Girl on the Bench

Amale blackbird foraged for the last of the berries on the hawthorn while his mate tugged fat, juicy worms out of the ground. A squirrel scampered about, searching for acorns. His cheeks were already stuffed. If he could fit just one more in, then he'd go and bury his stash.

Golden leaves crunched underfoot, made yet more crunchy by a thin layer of morning frost still lingering from the previous night. Tamsin Price dragged her school bag along the floor before she sat down heavily on a bench beneath one of the trees. There was a nip in the air making her breath steam every time she opened her mouth. Making sure that her school coat was well beneath her bottom on the cold and icy bench, she pulled her collar up around her ears and watched the wildlife for a few minutes, smiling at their antics. They were very tame and not at all frightened of her.

She dug into her bag and arranged some of her belongings on the bench beside her. Mobile phone. Ear buds. Asthma inhaler. Mr Turford.

Teddy Turford was her oldest and her favourite teddy bear. She was a bit old for teddy bears, but this one went everywhere with her. She'd had him for ever, and he was small enough to fit into her school bag without anyone spotting him. She'd skived off school today, so it wasn't an issue, but Tamsin would die of embarrassment if the other kids found out about Mr Turford.

She breathed in the smell of wood smoke. There was a bonfire somewhere. She hoped that whoever it was had checked that there were no hedgehogs asleep under the pile before setting light to it.

After scrolling through her phone for a bit, she went to the story she'd bookmarked the day before that had popped up on Facebook. Not that she was old enough to have a Facebook account, but that was soon remedied simply by falsifying her birth date. Every year she moved her birth year back a year and by her next birthday, it would read the right date at